1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention generally relates to an arrow, and more specifically to an arrowhead assembly attached to the arrow for remotely delivering a marking media to a remote location.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many millions of people around the world enjoy the sport of archery. Of these, over four (4) million hunters in the United States alone take to the field each year to hunt big game, i.e., deer, elk, etc., or to practice their shooting skills by “stump shooting”, i.e., shooting at trees, fence posts, tree stumps, etc.
Those archers who enjoy stump shooting are currently restricted to using arrowheads that are not effective in providing immediate feedback regarding shot placement or, if the feedback is rapid, the archer is faced with the time consuming task of trying to extract the arrowhead from the woodland target.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,142,895 (the '895 patent) discloses an arrow having a marking head for providing feedback regarding shot placement of the arrow. The arrow includes a shaft and a receiving plug attached to one end of the shaft. An arrowhead connector is in threaded engagement with the receiving plug, and supports a base thereon. The base is formed of a hard rubber or plastic and includes a concavity in a front end thereof for seating a paint ball therein. An adhesive secures the paint ball to the base. Upon the arrow impacting the surface, the paint ball ruptures, marking the target with the paint.
For those archers who enjoy the sport of bow hunter, the use of a marking media, such as a “scent”, is a common tool. The scent can be in the form of a cover scent, e.g., skunk scent, fox urine, etc., meant to mask the scent of the hunter, or alternatively, it may be in the form of an attractor scent, e.g., a doe-in-heat scent, etc., designed to lure a buck to a certain spot in the forest where the buck believes a doe may be ready to mate.
Currently, the preferred method of delivering attractor scents involves the hunter going to a spot in the forest and “dropping” scent at the location. The method of dropping the scent generally takes the form of applying the scent to a felt pad and leaving the pad suspended from a tree branch or by simply placing the pad on the ground. The risk associated with this method of dropping the scent is that while the hunter is placing the attractor scent, by the very nature of being at the location, the hunter is also leaving their human scent along the way. Human scent is not an attractor scent for most game species, and actually tends to repel most game species.
Alternative methods of delivering the attractor scents have been developed. One such method includes incorporating a scent with an arrow, allowing the hunter to launch the arrow into the location without actually entering the location, thereby permitting the hunter to avoid leaving their human scent at the location where the attractor scent is applied. This method of delivering the scent may be referred to as an airborne delivery method. An example of an arrow utilized in such an airborne delivery method is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,743 (the '743 patent) to Fiorenzo, titled “Scent Head Arrow”.
Alternatively, U.S. Pat. No. 5,303,496 (the '496 patent) to Kowalkowski, titled “Scent Distributing Method For Hunters”, discloses a method of delivering a scent by encapsulating the scent in a plastic or gelatin walled pellet. The pellet may be in the form of a scent ball, similar to a paint ball utilized in a compressed air gun, and delivered by an arrow as described above in the '895 patent. Upon the arrow impacting a surface, the scent ball ruptures, spreading the desired scent onto the surface.
The arrow described in the '895 patent is capable of delivering a marking media, such as the paint ball or the scent ball, to a remote location. However, the marking media must be attached to the arrow by an adhesive before use, allowing sufficient time for the adhesive to dry. This is both time consuming and messy. Additionally, care must be taken to protect the arrow once the marking media is attached thereto to prevent the marking media from rupturing while transporting the arrow prior to use.